Studied by 66 peopleBourgeoisie
the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people; the group that primarily led the French Revolution and made up the majority of the Third Estate of the Estates-General
Civil Code (Napoleonic Code)
considered a Napoleonic reform, this code preserved most of the gains of the revolution by recognizing the principle of the equality of all citizens before the law (except women), the right of the individual to choose a profession, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism; husbands and fathers were given considerable rights over their wives and mothers
Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 1790
A body of legislation passed in July 1790 that saw France nationalize the Catholic Church within its borders; church property was confiscated and instead the state would provide salaries to clergy; clergy were to be treated as public officials by being elected and required to take an oath; this divided public opinion of the French Revolution as religious devotion and revolutionary loyalty became incompatible for many and it embittered relations between the French church and state that continues to present day
Committee of Public Safety
The leaders under Robespierre who organized the defenses of France against "mortal" enemies at home and abroad, conducted foreign policy, and centralized authority during the period 1792-1795; assumed dictatorial powers in the name of the public good by championing the general will over individual interests (as delineated in Rousseau's Social Contract)
Concordat of 1801
Agreement between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon that healed the religious division in France by giving the French Catholics free practice of their religion and Napoleon political power; this was made possible when Pius VII, before becoming pope, wrote that Christianity was compatible with the ideals of equality and democracy; church gave up its claims to confiscated property in return for it being acknowledged as the religion of a majority of French citizens
Congress of Vienna (1815)
after Napoleon's defeat by a coalition of European powers, these powers (Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria) attempted to restore the balance of power in Europe and contain the danger of revolutionary or nationalistic upheavals in the future by securing a treaty of peace (not victory); under the leadership of the Austrian statesman, Metternich, this evolved into a new system of cooperative conservatism that became known as the Concert of Europe
Constitution of 1791
the document created during the first, moderate phase of the French Revolution; stated that all three estates have equal power in government, National Assembly becomes Legislative Assembly, and the absolute monarchy was dissolved to a constitutional monarchy
Continental System
Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain's economy, which was the source of its powerful navy, and cause domestic unrest that would drive Britain from the war; it hurt the European economies which would have benefitted from a free trade zone, something Napoleon rejected to the detriment of support for his empire
Cult of the Supreme Being (1794)
after the "cult of reason" seemed too abstract for most citizens to worship (initiated as part of the de-Christianization efforts of the Jacobins), Robespierre replaced it with this deistic cult (along the lines of Rousseau's vision of a civic religion); it followed the creation of a new revolutionary calendar dating from the first day of the French Republic
Declaration of Pillnitz (1791)
fearing the danger of the ideas and aggression of revolutionary France, Austria and Prussia issued a provocative general call to European rulers to help France restore the monarchy; in reality Austria would only go to war if Britain agreed to join, which it didn't; the French however took the declaration seriously and began to gear itself to resist its monarchical foes
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
French Revolution document centered around the universal political ideas of civic equality and popular sovereignty; it outlined what the National Assembly considered to be the natural rights of all people (except women) and those of citizens; the universalist language of this transcended borders and appealed to other Europeans in the 19th century and beyond
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
Member of British Parliament and author of Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), in which he emphasized the dangers of mob rule, fearing that the Revolution's fervor, violence, and disregard for traditional authority was destroying French society and he predicted would ultimately end in military despotism
Estates General
France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the three estates, or classes, in French society: the first estate is the clergy, the second is nobility, and the third is commoners; although much greater in number of members, the third estate was outvoted by the first and second estates
French Revolution (1789)
Reacting to the oppressive aristocracy, debilitating taxation policy, and continuing bread shortages, the French middle and lower classes overthrew the king and asserted power for themselves in a violent and bloody revolution. This uprising was inspired by French involvement in the American revolution, America's independence from England and the Enlightenment ideas.
Georges Danton (1759-1794)
One of the leading radical Jacobin figures and the first president of the Committee of Public Safety; a rival of Robespierre who tried to slow down the revolution as it descended into escalating deaths; he was tried as a enemy of the state and guillotined during the Reign of Terror
Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)
a revolt incited by a slave uprising in French-controlled Saint Domingue, resulting in the creation of the first independent black republic in the Americas; inspired by the French Revolution, and led by former slave and military hero Toussaint L'Ouverture
Jacobins
A political club in revolutionary France whose members were well-educated radical republicans opposed to monarchy and drew their republican beliefs from Rousseau's emphasis on equality, popular sovereignty, and civic virtue; the more radical Jacobin members, known as the Mountain (led by Robespierre), took control of the Committee of Public Safety with the support of a mob of radical workers (known as the san culottes)
Jean-Paul Marat
A journalist, scientist and Jacobin, he helped launch the Reign of Terror and complied death lists, being an advocate of violent measures; he was stabbed to death in his bath and immortalized by Jacques-Louis David in the painting The Death of Marat.
Levee en Masse (1793)
In response to the dangers of foreign war and internal enemies, the Committee of Public Safety established a mass conscription and successfully trained an army of 1 million men in less than a year (much larger than any other European army) with a goal of using these patriotic soldiers to export the ideals and changes of the French Revolution to the rest of Europe; also harnessed the entire nation for war production; laid the basis for Napoleon's future domination of Europe
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
queen and king during the French Revolution whose decadent living and lack of concern for the plight of the French common people (as evident by the rising taxes to pay off the French debt amid continuing bread shortages) led to them being overthrown then publicly executed by the National Convention during the Reign of Terror
Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794)
emerged during the French Revolution as a ruthless but popular radical who dominated the Committee of Public Safety (the executive authority of the Republic) and unleashed a campaign of terror to promote his revolutionary agenda; fixed prices and wages to less the unrest among the revolutionaries and promoted a civic religion; his ruthlessness was considered unjustified in the face of French military successes and he was captured, tried and guillotined
Methodism
A religion founded by John Wesley; it insisted on strict self-discipline and a methodical approach to religious study and observance while emphasizing an intense personal salvation and a life of thrift, abstinence, and hard work; it accompanied religious revival in Europe and the Americas in the early 19th century
Napoleon Bonaparte
as First Consul and emperor of France, he undertook a number of enduring domestic reforms to education and government while limiting the rights of women and free speech, and manipulating popular impulses behind a facade of representative institutions
October March on Versailles
also known as the Women's March on Versailles; women in Paris began rioting over the steep price of bread, which led to revolutionaries being involved which eventually grew to a crowd of thousands; they ransacked the armory in Paris and marched to Versailles, where they successfully besiege the palace and convinced the royal family to leave Versailles for Paris
Old Regime
term applied to the pattern of social, political, and economic relationships and institutions that existed in Europe before the French Revolution.
Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793)
a French feminist and reformer in the waning years of the Enlightenment who articulated the rights of women with her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791); she was executed via guillotine during the Reign of Terror
Peninsular War (1808-1813)
a nationalist response as Napoleon sent an army to invade Portugal for flouting his Continental System but first overthrew Spain's king and rendered the regular Spanish military ineffective, Spanish retaliation in the form of brutal guerrilla warfare proved the only effective tactic against French forces, in which they cut communication lines, killed stragglers, destroyed isolated units and then disappeared into the mountains
Reign of Terror (1793-1794)
terror used to protect the new republican political and social order (i.e. the republican virtue) from its internal enemies, real or imagined; it consisted of special courts in which due process was dispensed with as rebels and enemies of the nation were "tried" for political crimes; more than 25,000 victims were executed by guillotine
Romanticism
a reaction in early-19th century literature, philosophy and religion against what many considered the excessive rationality and scientific narrowness of the Enlightenment and the social transformation of the Industrial Revolution; the focus was on subjective experience, potential heroism of the individual, imagination rather than reason, revival of Christianity and medieval times; Rousseau foretold the movement when he questioned the exclusive reliance on reason and emphasized the role of emotions in the moral improvement of self and society
Seven Years' War (1756-1763)
Conflict fought in Europe and its overseas colonies but in North America, it was known as the French and Indian War; was a true global war and by the end Britain supplanted France as the greatest European power
Society of Republican Revolutionary Women
founded in May 1793 to fight the internal enemies of the revolution, its women saw themselves as military citizens; initially allied with the Jacobins when the legal status of women seemed to be improving but later split with them when the rights of women were increasingly ignored, such as citizenship and the right to arm and fight in wars; the exclusion of women from political life was considered acceptable in a republic of virtue which had separate spheres for men and women
Thermidorian Reaction
Name given to the conservative reaction against the radicalism of the French Revolution (using the name of the month in the new republican calendar), this major turning point is associated with the end of the Reign of Terror, reassertion of bourgeoisie power in the Directory, the return to an economy unregulated by the government, the establishment of a new constitutional regime, and a revival of Catholic worship
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